Bangladesh wants to procure five million doses of Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine from Russia as soon as possible.
“Health Ministry is working to that end,” said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, adding that Bangladeshi companies are also interested in co-production of the vaccine with Russia if the approval is given.
Outgoing Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander I Ignatov met the foreign minister at his office on Sunday and discussed the issue.
Brazil has become the 67th country where Sputnik V is authorized for use.
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Sputnik V ranks second among coronavirus vaccines globally in terms of the number of approvals issued by government regulators.
The foreign minister sought cooperation from the outgoing ambassador so that Bangladesh could procure vaccines from Russia quickly.
The Russian ambassador is scheduled to leave Dhaka on June 8 as he wrapped up his tenure in Dhaka.
Earlier, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said 68 million doses of coronavirus vaccine will be available from the Covax facility under the World Health Organization (WHO) for 20% of its population, that is, for 34 million people.
Out of this, 106,000 doses have already been received.
